00:00The role of the art collector, Davis Leland, changed hands a few times before director William Wyler landed on Eli
00:06Wallach.
00:07The studio originally planned to cast Walter Matthau, but when he learned Audrey Hepburn was making a million dollars for
00:13her role,
00:14he demanded $200,000, twice what he'd been offered, and he also wanted a top billing spot.
00:19The studio declined, then brought on George C. Scott.
00:23Wyler and Scott got along famously until the day they were supposed to shoot Scott's first scene.
00:30The actor arrived on set late after a rough night of drinking, and then he disappeared from set altogether.
00:36Already with two pretty heavy drinkers in the cast, Peter O'Toole and Hugh Griffith, Wyler fired George C. Scott.
00:45I think he was a bit surprised, said Wyler.
00:47After finishing How to Steal a Million, Wyler began work on his next planned project called Blood and Guts, a
00:54biopic of General George S. Patton.
00:58Scott was set to lead that picture.
01:01Eventually, William Wyler dropped out of the production, allowing Franklin J. Schaffner to take over directing the project, then retitled
01:08Patton.
01:09The film earned 10 Oscar nominations, winning 7, including Best Director for Schaffner and Best Actor for George C. Scott.
01:17The actor famously declined the award, calling the ceremony a so-called meat parade.
01:23Coming up, more of the art of the con, this time with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in a sexy
01:29heist picture from 1968.
01:31The Thomas Crown Affair is next on TCM.
01:35Next on TCM, the Thomas Crown Affair, then Nine Queens, and later F for Fake.
01:45TCM's got a bridge to sell you tonight.
